


Better Off As Lovers (And Not The Other Way Around)

by nervousjazzhands



Series: turn band au [1]
Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Turn Band AU, also sorry abt the cliche fob lyric as a title but theyre in a band i gotta do it okay, basically everyones in a band its great, basically i took the only self destructive thing i did and made abe do it, self destructive tendencies, thats right folks i finally wrote it, theres So Much Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7853530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervousjazzhands/pseuds/nervousjazzhands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the harrowing tale of The Jacket(tm). basically, abe and rob are So Bad at emotions, and theyre in bands. thats a thing too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

PART ONE

“People online have taken to 'shipping' you and Robert Townsend from Binding Treason. What do you think of that? Some people say they don't mind, but we've talked to some bands that are really against the whole business.”

Abe took a moment to compose himself and try to think of something to say other than ‘I hate straight people but I really want to date Rob and I don’t want to say anything about this because I’m constantly paranoid that everyone knows I want to jump him constantly.”

See? This is why he needs to plan answers. To keep from getting sidetracked and accidentally mentioning Rob. Which never goes well. 

Eventually he says something about how shipping culture is really harmful to the gay community and that straight people need to think critically about their reasons for obsessing over gay relationships, and it’s probably not the most concise argument he’s ever given, but he stays far away from Rob. Which would usually be good, if he wasn’t _answering a question about Rob._

Fuck. 

The worst thing about being a celebrity, Abe decides while he’s lying in his bunk the next night, is that everything stupid he says is usually remarkably well-documented. 

Although if Abe was thinking straight (which at this point is pretty much beyond him), he would probably ackowledge that the problem is less that people care what he says, and more that what he says is always garbage.

In his defence, he’s not even that bad usually, unless someone brings up Rob. Which is unfair, because a) people are _always_ bringing up Rob and b) Abe has never seen a single interview or picture or _anything_ when Rob looked anything but calm and collected. Even when he’s on stage, he never gets sweaty and gross like most people. He just _glistens_ like some fucking golden god. It’s disgusting. 

That doesn’t stop Abe from watching Binding Treason at every chance he can just so he can see Rob play. And _god_ how he plays. It’s practically a form of art, just the way he looks on stage, and not to mention that he’s ridiculously talented and probably the best bassist Abe’s ever heard (sorry Mary). 

Abe realizes that he’s probably slightly biased, but whatever. Everyone agrees with him, even people that don’t know anything about bass know that Rob’s pretty much a gift from god. 

Abe’s phone buzzes with a text from Mary. 

**good job in the interview man really subtle**

**wanna come over 2 the other bus ur bfs here + he has really tight pants on**

_fuck u mary i was under stress_

_ur shameless also hes always wearing tight pants_

**see u in five <3**

Abe heads over to the other bus once he's changes into something that doesn't smell like stale beer and sadness, and spends the five minute walk over thinking about how much he hates winter as he tries to curl deeper into his sweater. It doesn’t work, but he makes it over without getting frostbite, and the bus is hot enough to warm him up quickly. 

Speaking of hot things, Rob is lounging on the sofa, deep in conversation with Anna, and Mary really wasn’t lying about the pants. If Abe were a morally stronger man, he might take time to reflect on the fact that the highlight of his day is usually seeing an almost-stranger in tight clothing. He’s not morally strong though, so he slides up to Anna and pretends that he’s here because he’s a good friend and not because he has the hots for her bassist. (Not to sound like he doesn’t value Anna’s friendship or anything, she’s the best friend he’s ever had, but if you’ve ever seen Rob shirtless you’ll understand Abe’s priorities.)

He makes small talk with Anna for a while before she gets up and leaves Abe alone with Rob. And while most people would probably jump at the chance to spend time alone on a cramped sofa with the boy of their dreams, most people aren’t as good as putting their foot in their mouth as Abe. Abe is, by all accounts, a master of fucking everything up and saying stupid shit, which is mostly why he’s been avoiding spending time with Rob one on one. 

In hindsight, that’s probably not the best way to seduce someone, but not knowing anything about someone is better than flat-out hating them, which is what will almost certainly happen if Abe spends one more second alone with Rob giving him that _look_. 

So he gets up, announces that he needs some fresh air, and promptly forgets that it’s thirty degrees outside. He can’t go back in though, because then he’d be admitting his stupidity, and he can’t go back to his bus because he doesn’t want to spend the rest of the night playing mario kart alone. 

Honestly, even if both those options sort of suck they’re better than freezing to death, so Abe’s about to head back in and avoid Rob in some way that _doesn’t_ involve thirty degree temperature when the door opens and Rob steps out. Because Abe can’t even _avoid_ people properly anymore. And now he can’t go back in, because it’ll seem rude and Abe is not going to have Rob thinking that he’s an asshole. Just, distant or something. Rob’s smart, hopefully he can come up with some explanation for why Abe keeps avoiding him that doesn’t make Abe seem like a) a colossal douche or b) a lovesick fool. 

Abe’s about to turn away before he gets himself into even deeper shit, when Rob puts his jacket around him. 

“You looked cold, and it’s stupid to stand around outside when it’s freezing.” Rob isn’t smiling, but his eyes look soft and fond and Abe’s heart is thumping so hard he can barely breathe. 

“Won’t you be cold then?” Abe eventually breathes out, because nothing says charm and wit like stating the obvious. Fuck. 

“Yeah, so you’d better come back inside so I don’t have to worry about you freezing to death or something. Anna’d kill me.” 

_Heworriesaboutmeheworriesaboutmewhatthefuckwhatthefuckheworriesaboutmeohmygodwhat-_

“So Anna sent you out for me?” That’s a good neutral thing to say, and he casually doesn’t acknowledge the fact that Rob _worries about him_. Oh my god. 

“No. You really should come inside though, I think my dick’s freezing off.” Maybe it’s the cold, but Rob looks sort of flushed. Abe may have just completed the impossible and flustered Robert Townsend. He feels like a hero, honestly. 

“We wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt your dick,” Abe mutters under his breath, because the image of a blushing Rob has made him _smooth_ apparently, and for once in his life he has clever things to say. 

Rob makes a choking sound behind him, and Abe honestly feels like the greatest man to have ever lived. 

~ ~ ~

Abe only realizes that he has Rob’s jacket once he’s lying back in his bunk several hours. Which, is amazing and life changingly awesome because it’s all soft and smells like Rob and reminds him of that one time he wasn’t a total idiot around him and is also just a really warm jacket. 

A few days later, and Abe is now constantly afraid that he’s going to have to give the jacket back, and he’s not sure he could at this point. Thankfully, avoiding private conversations with Rob is pretty ingrained behavior by now, so he doesn’t get a lot of chances to ask for it back. Which Abe sort of feels bad about, but Rob has other jackets. And he’ll get it back _eventually_ , once it doesn’t smell like him anymore.

Mary keeps telling him that it’s creepy, which yes it probably is, but what would she know about pining. She’s in a healthy, mutually-beneficial relationship and has been since she was nineteen. She’s _spoiled_ and doesn’t understand that this jacket is probably the closest to a real interaction Abe’s going to have with Rob for a long time. 

She usually just sighs at that and gives up on convincing Abe to do things normally, which is probably for the best anyway because he goes to give Rob his jacket back the next day. The smell had faded, and he had to admit it _was_ pretty creepy how much he likes wearing it. 

Rob’s standing alone when Abe finds him, so thankfully he won’t need to deal with Anna’s disapproving look. He looks like he's in a pretty shitty mood though, and if Abe wasn’t so dedicated to his cause of not being creepy, he’d probably just turn back and give it to him another day. 

“Here’s your jacket back,” Abe says, handing it over, neatly folded. “Sorry it took me so long to get it back to you, I lost track of time.”

“Hmmm,” Rob replies, not even making an attempt to take his jacket back and just staying where he is, sitting on some old box that holds god knows what. Abe sits down next to him, because he’s an _idiot_ who doesn’t know how to walk away from things and he might as well soak up as much time with Rob where he doesn’t need to say anything. Because Rob looks like he’d rather jump off a cliff than engage in small talk, which means that Abe’s probably not gonna fuck this up. Unless staying here without giving back the jacket is weird, fuck it is right, but he can’t go anywhere oh shit-

Rob’s taking the jacket back now and going away, leaving Abe sitting on the cold ground feeling like he royally fucked up. Which is what he was _trying_ to avoid, just another reason why Abe needs to stop trying to talk to Rob forever. Can’t ruin what you don’t have and all. 

~ ~ ~

Abe has been doing a remarkably bad job of avoiding Rob. Or maybe Rob has been seeking him out more often? Whatever the reason, Abe can’t seem to go an hour without seeing Rob somewhere and it’s sort of driving him insane. Because he can’t be around Rob so he needs to leave whatever place he sees Rob, so he’s taken to pretty much never leaving his bunk. Which sucks of course, there are lots of good things outside of his bunk, like Pokemon, and food that’s not leftovers

So one night when he’s feeling particularly brave (and maybe not particularly sober), he goes out to find Rob and tell him to either a) stop being everywhere Abe is, b) stop wearing such tight pants while hanging around where Abe warms up because _holy shit_ or c) be Abe’s boyfriend and promise not to leave him because he says dumb shit a lot. 

Probably not the best options, but whatever. Abe is open to new ideas, as long as the end result is either Rob and Abe having sex or never speaking again. 

PART TWO

Rob hates his bandmates. 

Okay that’s not true. Anna and Abigail and Caleb are hands down the best friends he’s ever had. He just hates certain parts of them. Specifically the parts of them that thought it would be a good idea to leave him alone in a room with Abe. Even though they _know_ that he’s basically the bane of Rob’s gay existence. 

He may be overreacting slightly. But only slightly, because ever since Rob met Abe he hasn’t had a day of god damn peace. Because he either needs to be hyper vigilant to not accidentally be an asshole to him (which is harder than you would think), or try to figure out why Abe keeps avoiding him, or try not to choke everytime he sees Abe wearing his jacket. 

That _fucking jacket_. 

It’s not even a particularly _good_ jacket if Rob’s being honest. He got it at Target for twenty bucks when it was on sale, and the sleeves are totally worn out. If he had known that one of his jackets would become so important, he would have chosen a nicer one. It’s hard to get away with wearing it all the time, even though that’s what he wants to do because it smells like Abe and apparently Rob is a high schooler squealing over a varsity jacket. 

Abe would probably look go in a varsity jacket.

Fuck. 

Rob needs to focus on the current drunk Abe in front of him, especially because it seems like he’s missed half of a truly wonderful drunken tirade while he was daydreaming. 

“-so basically, please either like, leave me alone forever so I can be gay in peace, or date me. Or whatever. This was a bad idea.” Abe takes another drink from the bottle in his hand, obviously completely unaware of how much Rob is freaking out, and looking thoroughly disgusted with himself. 

Rob is. Shocked to say the least. He might be less confused if he’d been actually listening to Abe before but judging by how little is left in that bottle, it’s not likely. Rob really doesn’t know how to react, so he does what he does whenever he feels unpleasant emotions that he doesn’t know how to cope with (which, at this point, is pretty much all emotions). He becomes an asshole and starting insulting Abe. 

He’s halfway through ruining any chance he could ever have with Abe when he realizes that oh right. He likes Abe too, and would like to date him. Yes. That. So like any other emotionally responsible adult, sits down on the floor and buries his head in his hands. 

Abe, god bless him, is obviously too drunk to care that Rob had just spent the last several minutes saying the nastiest shit he could ever think up and just sits down beside him and wraps an arm around him. Which would usually be a remarkably stupid thing to do, seeing as the last person who did that without asking was almost punched in the face but it’s _different_ with Abe. Somehow. 

“Do you actually mean that shit?” Abe whispers, his tone showing how much that probably hurt, and _fuck_ Rob is an asshole. 

“No,” Rob says miserably, ready for Abe to start hating him (if he didn’t already). “I just say stupid shit when I don’t know how to deal with stuff.”

If anyone asks, nothing that cheezy has ever came out of Rob's mouth. Honesty is usually good, but the only thing better than honestly is lying by omission.

“Sweet!” Abe says, so drunk that he’s already forgiven Rob. And then pukes, all over where The Jacket had been lying on the ground. It’s completely ruined, and once Rob is less preoccupied manhandling Abe into his bunk and giving him water and an aspirin, he’ll think about how shitty of a metaphor that is. In his opinion, no metaphor is worthy ruining a jacket, no matter how shitty that jacket really was. 

Once he’s done thinking that, he’ll realize that he put Abe in his bunk, and against his better judgement climb in next to him. Abe smells like puke and bad vodka and if he tries to kiss Rob before rinsing his mouth he’ll get shanked, but it’s still nicer than it probably should be. 

~ ~ ~

Abe buys him a new, much nicer jacket for their one year anniversary, and Rob laughs into kissing him, breathless and smiling. 

~ ~ ~

Two years later Abe makes a joke about Rob wearing The Jacket to the wedding, forgetting that he didn’t actually ask Rob to marry him yet. 

Rob says yes. 

And then smacks Abe on the back of the head, because “what kind of fucking boyfriend forgets to ask before they start planning a wedding, oh my _god_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i was writing this i was thinking of the jacket being a utility jacket with a sorta fleece lining. i wrote a second chapter sorta thing thats basically a buncha imagined tweets/tumblr posts from the story, so if u guys r interested in seeing that lemme know. if you want to know more abt this au, my tag for it is @ www.nervousjazzhands.tumblr.com/tagged/turn-band-au, and you can also follow me on tumblr if thats ur thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so yeah my buddy @anamolly02 on tumblr said they were interested in the second part so. here u fools go. its sorta short but eh. maybe ill add more later? w/e here u go

**Kerrang! Magazine** @KerrangMagazine  
Massive Odds Against interview in the newest issue! Get a sneak peak  HERE!

 **abes cabbages** @nu1oddsagainstan retweeted @KerrangMagazine’s tweet and said: i cant believe we have been blessed w this tbh, im not sure if abe tries sounding gay all the time or if it just happens…

 **Xx_j0k3rz-gurl_xX** @omgphantrash609 retweeted @KerrangMagazine’s tweet and said: @shipittothemax omg have u seen this!!!!!!! i cant believe omg theyre so gay lmao XD

 **its the brooklyn bitch** @localheterophobe retweeted @KerrangMagazine’s tweet and said: lmao watch all the straighties completely ignore the fact that abe said he doesnt feel comfortable w straight ppl shipping him/rob

 **user amnastcng posted to tumblr:** look shipping is good and fun but i stg if i see one more story abt people harassing the bands abt im gonna commit  
_tagged with: #seriously guys #just dont be dicks lmao #dallas.txt #suicide ment //_  
1,825 notes

 **user sinfulpride reblogged annastrong’s post and added:** its all in good fun lmao the band even said that they dont mind!!!!!!!!!  
_tagged with #people keep taking this so seriously omg chill out_  
1,825 notes

 **user hsmmademegay reblogged sinfulpride’s post and added:** um okay, “sasha, gay sin luver and anime extraordinaire” ill be sure to really value ur opinion over. yanno. the opinion of the actual band member.  
_tagged with #anyway all straight ppl r literally the devil!!!!!!!!!!! #also like… buddy theyve literally said that hetty betties like urself shouldnt be shipping them #not to mention the ‘gay sin’ bc what is this 2007 #casual homophobia isnt hip anymore :) #discourse // #straight people //_  
1,825 notes

 **abe woodhull** @justuravecabbagefarmer  
boys are. really good.

 **buy violent things on itunes** @pretzelwentz retweeted @justuravecabbagefarmer tweet and said: *side eye emoji* whos this abt abraham fess up

 **robert townsend** @rtownsend  
i am super gay

 **robert townsend** @rtownsend  
anna stop stealing my phone. 

**anna** @annastrong  
look @ this loser  https://www.instagram.com/p/BHtTeKCh4eH/

 **move im gay** @starlightshimer retweeted @annastrong’s tweet and said: isnt that. robs jacket jfc theyre not trying anymore

 **user bennybcy posted to tumblr:** the signs as #iconic odds against and binding treason moments:  
aries: that time the daily mail found an old video of ben saying he hates straight people and made that article saying hes forming some sort of cult, and then caleb made everyone chant ‘fuck the daily mail’ @ the next live show  
taurus: The Jacket™  
gemini: when that guy yelled something gross at abigail and someone threw their drink at him  
cancer: abe accidentally announcing a new music video a week early, and then trying to cover it up by announcing their new album  
leo: caleb saying he’d go straight for hannah montana  
virgo: simcoe saying that anna deserved the award for best female artist (even though she wasnt even nominated for that) to try and get into her pants and then mary tweeting ‘get away from my gf lmao’  
libra: whenever rob says something weird and abigail gets that Look like she regrets everything  
scorpio: that grey beanie abe wore in every single picture and video of him during november  
sagittarius: abe tweeting ‘eggs’ and then deleting it two minutes later and refusing to explain it  
capricorn: anytime caleb says something in an interview and anna and rob exchange The Look™  
aquarius: caleb meeting abe at a civil war re-enactment and making him the drummer for binding treason bc he was such a good drummer boy  
pisces: bens pants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shit i forgot how salty i was when i wrote this lmao. sorry if i accidentally stole ur url or twitter handle, i didnt mean to. i sorta wanna make a list of shitty discourse that wld happen in this verse but also like. ive had enough discourse in my life yanno. 
> 
> also!!! if any emos r reading this, yes the daily mail thing is a reference to mcr. 
> 
> abes twitter handle is a joke bc in this universe he had a lotta odd jobs and at one point he was some sort of cabbage farmer and it became a meme. good times. 
> 
> sorry if the straight ppl sound sorta weird idk how to write straight ppl and i was like. Really Salty when i wrote it. i basically just wanted to dump some stuff???? this chapter is a Mess.


End file.
